For our last episode before our summer break we had the pleasure of hosting the Emmy and Oscar winning director and producer Roger Ross Williams!!! Roger is “Dutch” by marriage and calls Amsterdam his second home.

Roger is mostly known in The Netherlands for his CNN documentary short titled Blackfaceabout (jaja daar gaan we weer en het is pas juli) the racist Dutch cultural figure named Zwarte Piet (Black Pete). So of course, we talked about his experiences and the subsequent fallout after he dared criticize ‘onze cultuur’ for all the world to see.

As always we discussed all of our B’s: Mariam is all about Bad Brown Aunties hosted by two queer brown desi immigrants Thanu YakupiyiyageandRage Kidvai. Anousha catches up on the European elections with the help of NYT’s The Daily Podcast. Our intellectual Ebissé can’t stop watching the reality show Love Island and after her impassioned confession, we’re sure you won’t be able to stop watching either. Or Vanderpump Rules (Anousha calls it the best white on white crime show on tv) could be another option…!

We also spoke to Roger Ross Williams about his amazing career full of award-winning & incredibly important documentaries on the American prison system, autism, disability, racism and the role American evangelical missionaries on the persecution of LGBTQIA community in Uganda.

How did a “poor black boy” as he describes himself from “humble beginnings” make it to where he is now? Why did being gay actually save his life? And why is it so important to him, now that he has been re-elected to the Board of Governors of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences a.k.a. The Oscars, to never ever be a gatekeeper but a gate opener?

p.s. we at Dipsaus are really bad at Self-Promotion even if one of us happens to be a millennial. We started wa back in 2016 and have produced 44 full episodes of which only 6 feature men. Yes, SIX OUT OF FOURTY FOUR episodes feature men. We kunnen ze wel vinden Hillywood!

In this 2015 short, African-American filmmaker Roger Ross Williams goes on a journey to understand why the notoriously liberal Dutch feel compelled to dress in blackface during the annual holiday tradition of Sinterklaas.

‎Hosted by two queer brown immigrants Rage Kidvai & Thanu Yakupitiyage - Bad Brown Aunties is a podcast about art, culture, politics, and legacy through the lens of the amazing and creative people of color in our community.